A tiger entered the State capital limits near Karond early on Thursday morning and it took around nine hours for the forest department staff to capture it after tranquilizing.
The residents in the region remained panicked and a crowd had gathered near the Central Institute of Agricultural Engineering (CIAE) at Nabibagh on Berasia road, when the news regarding feline’s presence spread.
The eyewitnesses said that first the tiger was spotted at around 6 am in the campus of the CIAE. However, it took hours for the locals to inform the Forest department officials about this.
Conservator of Forest Bhopal Range AK Singh while talking to The Pioneer said, “The striped feline that was spotted by the locals early in the morning was captured after tranquilizing it by dot shot fired by veterinary expert Dr Atul Gupta. The decision to tranquilize and catch the big cat was taken as there was no forest cover in the vicinity where it could be driven back.
After tranquilizing the beast, the rescue team got hold of it and took it to Van Vihar National park at about 3 pm.” He further said that it would be kept for a while before finally shifting it to the Panna Tiger Reserve (PTR). Singh informed that the tiger found today, is different than those recently spotted at Kaliyasot and Kerwa area in past couple of days.
The captured beast seems to be strayed into CIAE from the forests on the adjacent Vidisha road. A male tiger was known to be operating in the Amoni-Geedgarh-Samardha areas for a year and this appears to be the same feline, he added.
However, it’s for the first time that a tiger has been spotted in Karond, where the institute is located, because it is located several kilometers away from Kaliasot and Kerwa areas where movement of at least two tigers have been regularly spotted. The tiger is aged about four years and is in the prime of health. As many as nine tigers are said to be operating in the vicinity of Bhopal with some making forays into the municipal limits as well, especially on the Kerwa and Kaliasot side.
Meanwhile, a large crowd collected at the spot and additional force was called to control the crowd. local MlA Vishwas Sarang had also reached the spot.